Presenting gifts at a couple’s wedding ceremony is age-old tradition. For many, the whole idea of a present is to please the couple and make them happy; for others, the main intent is to ‘shower’ the couple with things they may need for their future home.

Ordinarily, some couples may be genuinely hurt that some people who are close to them did not think of them by presenting them with a gift to start their new lives together.

It is a common scene to see friends and family shower the newlyweds with confetti while there are tables dedicated at wedding receptions purposely for gifts.

But all too soon, this beautiful tradition is gradually giving way to superstition, myths and varied other reasons that make accepting gifts undesirable for many people planning to tie the knot.

The first casualty of these age-old traditions was the showering of confetti on couples as they walk the aisle.

It was a common sight to see relatives and friends wipe the faces of the couple with handkerchiefs and sing their praises at they do the first dance or walk the isle.

All that is in the past now as spiritual connotations to such acts have compelled most churches to ban the act.

The idea behind the ban was strongly grounded in superstition. It was widely believed that people with ulterior motives could cause harm to the couple through ‘juju’ (black magic).

There are tales of how people with ill motives have spiritually wiped away the joy of the couple’s marriage by a simple act of wiping their faces with a handkerchief.

Now, a second casualty is the presentation of wedding gifts by people who may want to show their love to the couple.

Indeed, the emerging trend is that couples now explicitly state on their invitation cards their preference for cash, as opposed to leaving the choice of gifts in the hands of friends and family.And in instances where gifts are allowed, couples direct invited guests to specific shops where they have placed a list of items so that guests go through the list and purchase an item for them. By doing this, the couples are assured of two things: they will receive gifts they so much desire and the quality they want.Once an item is purchased, it is cancelled from the list to prevent another guest from purchasing the same item.

This may seem odd from any perspective but since there is no smoke without fire, Weekend Finder hit town to sample views on why the old order is gradually changing.

Pastor Solomon Palmer, founder and leader of the Charismatic Grace Ministry, at Lapaz says gifts often serve as a convenient point of contact for persons who mean ill to harm many marriages.“Often during deliverance services, there are revelations to the effect that many of the attacks on people’s marriages are as a result gifts they received on their wedding day”.

A couple who spoke to the Weekend Finder on condition of anonymity , said a day before their wedding , their pastor called to advise them not to take a gift from a particular person as it was meant to destroy the marriage.

The couple narrated that when the gift was eventually presented by the person as described by their pastor earlier, they also gave it out as a gift to someone else.

There are also tales of how couples end up childless or face many other challenges due to gifts they were presented with on their wedding day.

These notwithstanding there are other who fervently look forward to those gifts from friends and family.

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